The ebook phenomenon has awakened the hidden storyteller in people all over the world. When once publishing a book meant years of rejection before a manuscript could go to press, the ease of self-publishing ebooks has opened up exciting opportunities for writers of all genres. The reading public has also welcomed ebook authors with open arms and made the most of the convenience offered by downloading and reading books on their digital devices. Where there is a market, players are bound to come in droves – these ten ebook publishers have become the top choice of writers seeking best-seller status and a million-dollar payday, as well as consumers with an appetite for reading.
1. Amazon: Amazon Kindle’s Direct Publishing (KDP) allows authors to self-publish their ebooks in multiple languages and reach readers worldwide on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android, PC and Mac. The advantages of KDP include formatting assistance to make ebooks readable by Kindle, a generous 70% royalty for ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and of course, the excellent exposure of publishing with the world’s largest ebook distributor. On the flip side, authors are not provided an ISBN and distribution is restricted through the Kindle Store.
2. Smashwords: Smashwords has become a sought-after publisher for unique reasons. Authors can sell their work not only on the Smashwords site, but also through Barnes & Noble, Diesel, iBookstore and Sony. For each book authors sell on Smashwords, they are entitled to a royalty of 85% and 60% for every sale on an affiliate site. Smashwords’ proprietary file conversion software, The Meatgrinder, creates ten different file formats, allowing ebooks to be downloaded for Nook, iPad, Kindle, Palm and more. The publisher also provides authors a free ISBN number. However, authors have admitted the difficulty in correctly formatting their books for Smashwords, and turned to professionals to format their work and create cover page designs for successful entry into the Smashwords system.
3. Nook Press: At the moment, the self-publishing portal is available only to publishers holding a U.S bank account and a U.S Tax ID linked to a U.S address. Nook Press’s ebook creation and distribution services are supported by live chat, a light mode for authors seeking to trial tools before committing to anything, a sales dashboard and collaborative tools for workshopping. The ebooks sold through NOOK Bookstores are available on Nook.co.uk, BN.com, NOOK devices and the free NOOK eReading software for iPhone, iPad, Android, PC, Mac and Windows 8. The royalty on ebooks priced below $2.99 or above $10 is 40%; for those priced between $2.99 and $9.99, the royalty is 65%.
4. Lulu: Lulu originally started out a self-publishing platform for print books before emerging as one of the top ebook publishers. The biggest advantage offered by Lulu is simple formatting and a cover art creation program as one of the steps to publishing. Authors can format their ebooks in PDF, EPUB and Microsoft Reader. The limited file formats mean that the ebooks may not be accessible on Nook and Kindle ereaders. Authors also cannot distribute their ebooks to any outside retailer other than the iBookstore. Lulu, however, provides an ISBN number, and allows you to set the list price and royalty rates.
5. iBookstore: When talking about digital publishing, Apple cannot be far behind. Readers can download books from the iBookstore and enjoy them on their iOS devices or store them in their Mac library. Despite allegations of collusion with publishers to raise ebook prices above $9.95, Apple has maintained a 20% share of the ebook market, with iBooks registering a 100% growth last year.
6. Hachette: A Forbes report named Hachette as one of the top five ebook publishers in 2013. 27% of all books on the Digital Book World Ebook Best-Seller List were published by Hachette (for most part, it had fantasy novel ‘Beautiful Creatures’ to thank). In August this year, Hachette forged a deal with educational material distributor Follett to make its ebooks available to school libraries. As a subsidiary of France-based multinational mass media company Lagardère, Hachette has a reputation for publishing high-quality works by renowned authors such as James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks and Alice Hoffman.
7. Random House-Penguin: Between them, Random House and Penguin published approximately 40% of all best-selling ebooks this year. With their merger now complete, the two big brands are hopeful of grabbing a big chunk of the digital publishing market. This year, Penguin’s subsidiary Book Country, which initially made ebooks available for sale through amazon.com, iBookstore and bn.com, has started selling directly on its site. Authors stand to receive an 85% royalty on sales. In 2012, Penguin acquired Author Solutions Inc, which offers print-on-demand and self-publishing services. Ebooks published by Random House are available on Nook, Sony, Blackberry and Kindle.
8. Macmillan: Macmillan also had its share of titles on the Digital Book World Ebook Best-Seller List, coming in behind Hachette, Random House, Penguin and self-published ebooks. It publishes ebooks in Adobe Reader (PDF or AER), EPUB and online formats. Retailers include iBookstore, Google Play, Kindle, Sony and Kobo. This year, Macmillan opened up 11,000 backlist ebooks (older than one year) to libraries.
9. Simon & Schuster: In 2012, Simon & Schuster sold ebooks in over 200 countries and its ’13 second-quarter revenue from ebook sales increased 60% YOY. The CBS Corporation subsidiary launched a pilot to sell ebooks to classrooms this September. It had only seven appearances in this year’s Digital Book World Ebook Best-Seller List but still managed to round up the top ten. Simon & Schuster owns Archway Publishing, which offers tailored self-publishing packages to authors across genres.
10. Scholastic: The largest publisher and distributor of children’s books in the world is also an ebook publishing force, as evidenced by its sixth position on the Digital Book World Ebook Best-Seller list for the first half of 2013. It sells more than 1500 ebooks for Android, iPad, Windows PC and iPhone through Scholastic Storia store.
11. HarperCollins: HarperCollins had 15 titles on the Digital Book World Ebook Best-Seller List. It publishes books in multiple e-book formats and as of October this year, has started selling ebooks directly to consumers at CSLewis.com and Narnia.com.
New ebook developments in 2014 are expected to spark off more innovative and sales-focused strategies from top publishers. Here’s to a new year filled with greater opportunities for authors and more promises for readers.
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